Polish competition protection solutions are good examples for other countries to follow - these are the conclusions of the international seminar “American and European consumer protection system”, held yesterday by UOKiK

The aim of the meeting was to exchange lessons learned about the introduction and application of consumer protection solutions. The seminar was attended by representatives of institutions responsible for the implementation of antimonopoly policy (American Federal Trade Commission, Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine and UOKiK), academic circles (lecturers of the Chicago-Kent College of Law and Kharkiv National University of Inernal Affairs), as well as specialists from the Energy Regulatory Office and the Office of Electronic Communications.

The meeting was a part of the cooperation programme signed by UOKiK and the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine in January this year. The institutions cooperate in the fields of information and know-how exchange (above all as regards proceedings) by, among others, organizing seminars and study visits.

The first part of the seminar was dedicated to the comparison of consumer protection systems. The United States - a country which introduced antimonopoly provisions as early as at the end of the 19th century - have a particularly interesting system. A detailed analysis of American solutions was presented by James C. Hamill from the Federal Trade Commission. The specificity of the consumer protection system of the USA results from the activity of two market protection institutions: Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission. The first office is subordinate to the American Government, whereas the second one is an independent unit. The make-up of the FTC includes five commissioners, and at the same time there is a reservation that no party can have more than three members in the Commission. As Professor Harold Krent from Chicago-Kent College of Law put it, such status and practical inability to dismiss the commissioners makes the Commission more independent, and thus - allows for making decisions irrespective of the current political situation and releases the Commission from the influence of lobbying.

The Ukrainian situation is similar to the Polish one right after the political and economic transformation - central planning economy has left large enterprises which face no competition in their sectors. Ukrainian participants of the seminar - Ludmila Liashenko from the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine and Igor Osyka from the Kharkiv National University - concluded that the change of the situation is the government’s priority. Step by step, antimonopoly provisions are introduced, and at the same time Ukraine pays special attention to lessons learned by Poland as regards implementation of consumer protection provisions. Alla Kriuk from the Kharkiv Territorial Office of the Antimonopoly Committee claimed that the Ukrainian government is determined to combat prohibited agreements and cases of abuse of a dominant position by ex-monopolists.

The third part of the seminar was devoted to leniency - the programme of mitigating penalties for cartel members who start cooperating with the antimonopoly office. It was first applied in the United States in order to eliminate from the market all unlawful agreements limiting competition - which consist in e.g. setting prices which are greater than in market conditions. The leniency programme, for a dozen years or so, has been applied by the European Commission, and was implemented to the Polish legislation two years ago. Dominik Piejko from the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection provide relevant informetion on the first proceedings in progress, based on the cartel members coming forward; specialists forecast that the programme of mitigating penalties will become more and more popular.

Additional information:
Elżbieta Anders, Spokesperson of UOKiK
Pl. Powstańców Warszawy 1, 00-950 Warszawa
Tel. (+48 22) 827 28 92, 55 60 106, 55 60 314
faks (+48 22) 826 11 86
E-mail [SCODE]ZWFuZGVyc0B1b2tpay5nb3YucGw=[ECODE]